Will Kyler Murray start for the Cardinals against the Falcons after a long injury hiatus?

Kyler Murray suffered an ACL injury in December last year.

Will Kyler Murray start for the Cardinals against the Falcons after a long injury hiatus?

Kyler Murray (via NBC Sports)

Kyler Murray tore his ACL in December last year against the New England Patriots. It’s been almost 11 months since that injury and Murray seems to have recovered from it. He was activated from the physically unable to perform (PUP) list on Tuesday and is well on track to make his comeback this weekend. The Arizona Cardinals will play the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday and Murray might return as the Cardinals’ starting QB for that game.

The Cardinals came into the season with one of the worst overall rosters in the NFL. Without Murray, they played the first half of the season with Joshua Dobbs as their starting QB and won only one game. He was traded to the Minnesota Vikings on October 31 after the Vikings’ starting QB Kirk Cousins suffered an Achilles injury. Clayton Tune took his place in Arizona and lost his first game against the Cleveland Browns.

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Kyler Murray’s return is vital for the Cardinals going forward. He was their first overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. First-year head coach Jonathan Gannon said that Murray would start against the Falcons if he had a week to practice. Gannon said: 

Kyler’s going to continue to ramp up — he’ll take the (first team) reps and if the week goes well, he’ll start on Sunday. Pleased where he’s at right now and we’ll see how the week goes.

Murray so far in his career has accumulated 13,848 yards, 84 touchdowns and 41 interceptions with a passer rating of 92.5. He has also rushed for more than 2,000 yards and 23 touchdowns. One of the most dynamic QBs in the league, Murray’s return will be good for the NFL.

Cardinals’ OC Drew Petzing talks about Kyler Murray’s return to the team’s offense

Kyler Murray has been activated from the physically unable to perform list on Tuesday. Barring any injury setback, Murray is expected to play on Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons. Arizona Cardinals’ OC Drew Petzing talked about Murray’s return to the offense and what it would look like.

Drew Petzing (L) and Kyler Murray (R)
Drew Petzing (L – via ESPN) and Kyler Murray (R – via Sports Illustrated))

Petzing said: 

He's healthy, he's ready to go and we will put him in position to be successful. That's always the nature of the franchise quarterback, and you see it around the league when they are very mobile, there is an injury risk associated. That's always the nature of the franchise quarterback, and you see it around the league when they are very mobile, there is an injury risk associated with that. We have to manage that as all teams with elite quarterbacks do.

The Cardinals lost their week 9 game against the Cleveland Browns with Clayton Tune as the quarterback. They are now 1-8 through 9 games and will hope to have a strong second half of the season with Murray.

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